Something Old, Something New
by HitokiriHERO
Summary: When Ranma finally has enough of Nerima, he goes to his mother. After a train trip, he ends up in the Tsukamoto Residence. Chaos ensues. School Rumble Crossover. ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
1. Chapter 1

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Chapter 1: The Departure, The Relocation, The Unveiling

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or School Rumble. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Kobayashi Jin respectively.

Just something I thought I would try. It's been stuck in my head for a little while so I decided to get it out of me.

Also, if you don't know anything about Ranma ½, treat the Ranma side as a an OC.

Please give me your opinions.

**The Departure**

As Ranma boarded the train, he wondered how much his life had changed since Saffron and the failed wedding. He knew about his feelings had come out for Akane, but thanks to the famous Saotome Foot-in-the-Mouth disease, he had not only managed to push Akane away from him, but he had also destroyed any possible means of the engagement from going through (not that he minded, especially finding out Akane's real intentions).

He found an empty spot on the train and sat down. He pulled out the piece of paper which his mother had given to him only that morning and thought about the address. He knew a bit about the Kanagawa region from his studies and he hoped it would be a lot better than the hellhole he used to call home.

He thought back to the day where this while mess started; he had been trying to fix things up with Akane and he had hoped to actually make the engagement work.

_Flashback_

_Ranma was lounging around on the roof and he was doing something what most people consider to be abnormal for the sixteen year-old in question: thinking._

_'Man, I really need to get a better grip on my life. Just today, Akane malleted me into space twice, once for Shampoo groping me and the second was because Ukyo gave me some food. Yeesh, she really needs to get a hold on her temper,' he thought._

_'Then again, I also need to work on myself too. I have always seemed to stumble around with my words and I nearly let it slip at Jusendo. God that would've made a huge mess…'_

_'Well, she also needs to get better. I nearly failed in saving her and though I absolutely abhor hitting girls, I really need to help her train: even I can't save all the time. And the next time she gets 'bride-napped,' she might get killed. God, her luck must be running out soon.'_

_Ranma used his limited brain capacity to actually think of a way to fix things. 'C'mon, Saotome, you can do this! What I need is to-'_

_Ranma froze. He had a brainwave, but he would be gambling a huge risk if he decided to go through with the idea. Sure, the other girls might have been showing a lot less face than usual, but things might actually work if he managed to swear everyone to silence._

_The huge risk he was gambling? This whole plan could blow in their faces if even one detail leaked out. That usually meant Nabiki, and that meant he was going to have to come up with a good plan to outwit her. She could be scarier than he thought._

_Kasumi was no problem. She could hide secrets better than everyone. The only other problem was their fathers. They were so emotional about this engagement, they practically yelled things to half of Nerima. If that happened, he may as well go through with the seppuku contract he had 'agreed' to when he was two, with or without his mother's consent._

_Ranma faced a decision that had had huge pros and cons. Should he go through with this potentially life-threatening plan and reap the rewards, hiding everything in the process? Or should he just let things go the way they are and hope by some miracle that he and Akane get together?_

_Ranma shook his head. He had no room for doubts. He had made his mind and he went to go to consult with Akane. _

_'Ranma no BAKA! Why does he let those whores hang around with him? He should just tell them firmly 'Go away' and be done with it, but NOOO, he lets those bitches hang onto his every word and freeloads off them! Then he can go through that damned engagement! Not that I care…'_

_Akane was in her room and was doing her homework, but she found it difficult to actually do so after the day's events. She was currently fuming over Ranma and his behavior towards the girls he had around him, including herself._

_'He praises the girls about their cooking, yet he ignores ME, and even yet, he insults ME! They even have better looks than me! If he cares about them so much, why doesn't he GO WITH THEM?' she yelled in her mind, wondering why her heart twisted at that statement._

_'RANMA, I HATE-'_

_Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard some knocking on her glass window. She looked outside and found Ranma against the setting sun. He had a solemn look on his face and all anger on her face or even in her mind evaporated. It was a rarity that Ranma ever had a solemn look on his face._

_"What do you want, Ranma?" she asked with a tone that meant 'this better be good, or you're dead.'_

_Ranma swallowed. "Akane, I am about to tell you possibly the most hair-brained, ingenious yet, dangerous idea I thought up of. If it works, we might be able to actually end this damned fiancé feud once and for all."_

_Akane lost her tone of voice as she spoke curiously, "Really? What is it?"_

_And so, Ranma went over the details of his plan. He went from exchanging services from each other and improving each other in secret and hiding this from everyone but the immediate family. He also told her the risks of this plan and he repeated several times that this plan could blow up in their faces and that it could any chance of an engagement from happening._

_Akane listened and the more she heard, the more impossible she thought it was going to be._

_"Ranma are you sure that's going to work? This is a pretty insane plan, you know," she said, eyeing Ranma._

_"Well, I have to agree with you; this one's a long shot. Just remember that this could kill any chance of an engagement if this backfires on us."_

_Akane was clueless as to what to do, but before she could say anything, Ranma continued. "The problem with this plan is that this could leak out, thanks to some rather untrustworthy, well placed sources in this family. Namely, our fathers and Nabiki."_

_Akane nodded and Ranma continued with his, for lack of a better word, debriefing._

_"Your father and Pops, we can threaten with the engagement. The only problem is Nabiki. She is going to want something in return or we ask Kasumi to do something. I'm opting for Option 2, because that way, it'll hurt out wallets less, and let's face it, no one wants to be broke."_

_Akane nodded again, unable to say anything._

_"Well, Akane? Do you want to do this? Knowing it could backfire in our faces?" asked Ranma seriously. _

_Akane remained speechless before she replied, "I need time, Ranma. Can I sleep on it?"_

_Ranma nodded, expecting this as the most likely answer from her. It was a lot of information to take in. it was an insane plan which merited more than favourable results, but yielded equally bad returns if it failed. It was like trying to get the final card for a royal flush in Texas Hold' ems: you had one chance, otherwise, it's game over._

_Ranma left the room via the way he came in and he bounded onto the roof to let Akane have some thinking space. Meanwhile, he needed to come up with a way to outsmart Nabiki in such a way that he could actually have her allegiance in this plan without him and Akane having empty pockets._

_He was in for a long night._

Ranma smiled at the memory and his foolish attempts at formulating a plan to outwit Nabiki in order to actually make this plan come to fruition. He had thought of various arguments, including one that involved him prostrating himself before 'Queen Nabiki,' but he quickly scrapped that as he more pride than that.

He remembered his surprise when he told the family, though the word surprise was a huge understatement. His poor vocabulary was couldn't think of a word big that could properly describe his emotion at the time.

_Ranma knocked on Akane's door after school the following day. She'd been avoiding him the whole day, but he knew that would happen. It was bound to happen after what had transpired last night and so he respected her wishes._

_"Come in," came the tired reply._

_Ranma opened the door and he found Akane sitting at her desk, looking at Ranma with determination._

_"I'll do it, Ranma," she said tiredly. The decision was not easy for her. She didn't know how long she could actually keep up this deception from the rest of Nerima, yet there was always the possibility that it could happen._

_Ranma looked her. "Are you sure?" he asked._

_Akane looked him in the eyes. That was all Ranma needed to confirm her response._

_"Okay then. I think the first person we should tell is Kasumi. She would definitely keep this quiet until we can spread it out in the open."_

_She nodded and with Ranma, she left the room and went to the kitchen to find her older sister, who was surely preparing dinner._

_Ranma and Akane entered the room tentatively. Kasumi was humming to herself and was busily preparing dinner with the joyous smile on her face._

_"Ranma, Akane, what can I do for you?" she asked as she turned to face Ranma and Akane._

_"Well, Nee-chan, I need to you to help with something me and Ranma have thought of," she said nervously._

_"Well, what can I help you with?" she asked brightly._

_Ranma launched into explanation mode as he explained his plan, good and bad results included. He explained the whole thing to Kasumi, Akane helping occasionally. Kasumi was still preparing dinner, so Akane went to set up the dishes when Ranma was still talking._

_By the time Ranma had finished, the dishes had been set up and dinner had been finished. Kasumi wore a worried face in light of Ranma's new plan._

_"Are you sure this will work, Ranma-kun?"_

_Ranma shrugged. "At best, and that's if we keep this whole charade up and swearing this whole family to silence, I give it a 25% chance of working. And that's being too generous."_

_Kasumi looked even more worried. "Are you sure, Ranma-kun, that you will want to do this? That you know the risks of the whole plan? That what might happen if you fail? Are you sure there isn't another way to do this?"_

_"Lying to the Nerima Wrecking Crew is easier than getting them to leave us alone: they were never really bright to begin with and they might even attack us. And if this plan get's out, 'all hell's going to break loose' isn't even a near-good enough expression to describe what will happen to this place."_

_Kasumi felt like she was going to make the apocalypse happen when she said the next sentence. "Ok, Ranma-kun, I'll help you by keeping the family quiet, but things like this don't generally stay silent for long. Father and Saotome-san shouldn't be too hard for you, but I'll help you with Nabiki."_

_Ranma sighed a breath of relief. "Arigato, Kasumi. I mean it."_

_Ranma bowed to her and he helped carry out the dishes for that night's dinner, surprising everyone but Kasumi. It took a lot more than Ranma showing manners to shock her._

_Dinner was less quiet than usual. This meant that Genma stole Ranma's food, Ranma and Genma fight, Ranma falls into the pond, Genma brags, Ranma splashes him and they both start fighting, not over food, but out of sheer habit of doing this for so long. Kasumi also had a kettle of hot water for both Ranma and Genma, and after the hot water, they resumed the 'fight' over the food. The rest of the Tendos ignored this: they had gotten used to it after so long._

_After dinner, when Kasumi had cleared the dishes, she made some tea and served some desert for the hot summer nights: crushed ice and iced tea. It was at this point that Ranma decided to announce the plan he and Akane had concocted._

_"Hey, I need to speak to you," said Ranma and everyone gave Ranma their full and undivided attention. "Right. Well, I've been doing some thinking these last few days, and I've thought of a plan to end this fiancé war, but it's gonna need your cooperation."_

_And so Ranma repeated what he had said to Akane and Kasumi, but it took longer, mainly because of Soun and Genma's dancing around and yelling something along the lines of 'The houses will be joined.'_

_Ranma knew that by entering this plan, he had chosen Akane. The difference is, on the outside, it would be plain old Ranma and Akane fighting._

_Nabiki had actually made the most surprising choice in this._

_"I'll keep quiet about this, for as long as it takes. No charge," she said._

_This caused everyone in the vicinity of the room to stare at Nabiki, save Kasumi, who had known she wouldn't sell out her family's honor for any price. People could be so unperceptive._

_"What? Can't I do something charitable for once?" she asked. "I might be known as the Queen of Ice, but even I know when family honor is at stake."_

_And so, the most dangerous plan concocted had been put into practice. Operation: Stop Fiancé War had begun and it was going to a very good start, the parent's actually swearing their silence, or else the engagement would be gone for good and Nabiki swearing her silence as well._

Ranma looked back on the memory fondly. It was one of the few times Ranma had known Nabiki to be so charitable and it raised his respect for her higher. He thought he had known what he was doing at the time. God, was he so wrong.

For the first few weeks, everything was fine. Ranma and Akane had improved drastically in many areas. Akane had her temper in check and had improved beyond all doubt to Ranma. He had to drill in some of the Anything Goes school principles into Akane repeatedly, including not letting your emotions fuel your attacks, which she had been doing for most of the time. That was what was holding her back as a martial artist, or at least that was what Ranma had thought.

Akane had improved by leaps and bounds: Ranma would even be willing to pit her against Shampoo and he would bet she would be the winner. However, Ranma would not put her against Mousse and his hidden weapons. Though Akane had made huge jumps in terms of skill levels, she was not good at dodging the chains and flying weapons, as Ranma had demonstrated to her before.

Ranma, on the other hand, had improved in his social skills, though this was no mean feat. After trying different methods of trying to teach Ranma etiquette and manners, Akane finally resorted to drastic measures: She called upon the skills of Martial Arts Etiquette and within one week, after some hastily thought up explanations of trying to prove that in some way, all etiquette skills were related to Martial Arts, Ranma was now more perceptive of other people's feelings (though the same could be said otherwise in matters of love). He ate like a normal person, and he'd even had stopped most slang in his talking.

Ranma had also requested he be trained in 'Martial Arts Education' and during the same week he practiced his etiquette skills, Ranma was now flying in all areas of his schoolwork and was even beating Akane herself in areas like Mathematics and Science. Even at English, a horrible area of the school, Ranma was doing better and he even had a slight English accent to it. He just didn't show it because he was usually asleep during Ms. Hinako's class.

'Pops took me to England once. Don't ask why, but one of us had to learn to learn how to speak and he sure as hell wasn't going to,' he has said as he explained his sudden drastic improvement in English to Akane.

Ranma had actually enjoyed spending time with Akane. He enjoyed teaching her and vice versa. They had even managed to hold hands once without any interruptions, as was per usual with a Ranma Akane moment.

Then, as Ranma put it, 'all hell broke loose.'

_Ranma was in the dojo, practicing with Akane. Ranma was fighting with Akane in a practice spar and they were both enjoying it immensely. Ranma was even ready to progress Akane to ki blasts._

_As Ranma was distracted by his thought process, Akane sensed Ranma slowing down and she moved in to grab and throw him. However, Ranma managed to sense Akane, only a millisecond too late. The result was Akane grabbing Ranma, attempting to throw him and halfway in the air, Ranma grabbed her arms and Akane flew with Ranma. They landed in a crumpled heap, Ranma landing on top of her._

_When Ranma recovered, Ranma found himself straddling Akane. And, inadvertently, they both locked eyes. Blue, staring into black, Ranma found himself staring into Akane's eyes like they were a window into her soul. Both their feelings lay open, with nothing to hide behind._

_Ranma found himself lowering himself onto Akane's face, yet strangely, he didn't stop, nor did he want to stop. He was so afraid that Akane might want to stop, yet she didn't even blink as Ranma continued to lower his face onto Akane's._

_Ranma, for the first time, claimed Akane's lips and he found the experience quite enjoying. He kissed her lightly and she kissed back, embracing each other._

_Then the door slid open and Ranma and Akane broke apart. There, standing in the doorway with her mouth agape, was Ukyo, the okonomiyaki box on the floor._

_Ukyo was walking along the path to the Tendo dojo, holding an okonomiyaki take-out box in her hand. She was going to visit her Ran-chan to see what was wrong with him._

_It had been gradual, but she had been noticing small changes in him. Ranma was becoming more polite, he had nearly stopped using slang, he was actually doing well in school and the worst part was that he actually fighting less with Akane! She didn't know what Akane did to Ranma, but she sure as hell wasn't going to stand for it!_

_As she approached the Dojo, she heard fighting sounds. She turned towards the dojo and as she drew closer, she could hear the voices of a male and female fighting in there. She got even closer and she could make the male voice out as Ranma's, but the female, she couldn't make out yet._

_Ukyo panicked. Ranma was running around with another girl behind her back? _

_'But Ran-chan isn't like that! That hussy who he was training with probably did something to him! Most likely the Amazon hussy, she probably used one of her potions on him! I'll get her for that!' she raged in her head and she ran towards the dojo door and threw it open._

_What she did not expect was Akane and Ranma in the room. What's more, she did not expect to see Ranma and Akane kissing._

_Ukyo's world shattered as she knew it. Nothing made sense to her as she pulled her battle spatula out, cried in all her fury and leapt at Ranma and Akane._

_Ranma was the first to react, pulling Akane out of harm's way and disarming the crying Ukyo. Even after she had been disarmed, Ukyo leapt at Akane, using her fists. Though Ukyo was skilled at using her fists, she was no match for Akane as she put Ukyo onto the ground._

_"WHY HER, RAN-CHAN? WHY?" Ukyo sobbed uncontrollably._

_Ranma could do nothing but say, "I'm sorry, Ukyo. But, it's over. And, I think there was never an us in the first place. I'm sorry."_

_She struggled and cried, but Akane kept her hold on her, at least until Ranma told Akane to let her go._

_"Go home, Ukyo," he said. It was not meant to be a cold and harsh order: just a recommendation. However, she seemed to get the wrong idea as she glared at Ranma and Akane and walked out of the dojo, not sparing either a backward glance._

_End Flashback_

Ranma shuddered when he remembered that following week: Visits punctured by smashing, breaking, yelling, accusing, congratulating and what not completely put a huge strain on his relationship on Akane that week as he could not find the time to have a private moment with her. Nerima made sure the couple never got another moment of peace.

Then, as 'it' happened.

_Flashback_

_Ranma was walking back from school when he heard some sounds of fighting near him. He'd been returning from an errand that Kasumi asked him to do._

_"Well? WHADDYA WAITIN FOR, HUH? CUM'N' GET IT!"_

_'Weird. That sounds like Akane. What's happening?'_

_Ranma ran and soon, he found Akane, Kodachi, Shampoo and Ukyo were in a vacant lot: they were fighting, to the outsider, to the death. Guess why?_

_"HAH! I guess I beat you! Ranma's mine and he's not going to be yours, EVER!" yelled Akane triumphantly._

_"HARLOT! HOW DARE YOU IMPEDE ON RANMA-SAMA'S BRILLIANCE?" yelled Kodachi in her maniacal voice. _

_Ranma, though, remained out of sight after hearing what Akane said._

_'I'm just a trophy, huh? Just a fucking damned trophy to show off, huh?'_

_Never in Ranma's life had he felt so angry, so betrayed. Saffron and the Neko-ken training combined didn't match to the ferocity of this new anger embedded in Ranma. He let his aura flare out dangerously for the girls._

_Akane was feeling triumphant when she felt hot, raw, unrestrained anger flow into the area. She was frozen at the sheer intensity of it. 'Who is this-'_

_Her thought was cut off as Ranma stepped into view. 'Oh shit.'_

_Ranma glared at each girl with such uncontrolled rage, the girls flinched every time they looked at him._

_"So, Akane? Am I just a trophy to you? A damned fucking trophy just to show off to these, these…" Words failed Ranma as he tried to find words harsh enough to describe the bitches in front of him._

_"Is that all I am to you? A game? A FUCKING GAME?" he roared and he let forth another pulse of anger into the world. The girls were clearly shaking in fear: the raw power Ranma displayed was nearly on par with a volcano._

_"Despicable," Ranma said and he turned to leave. Never had Ranma felt more anger in his life: he tried to restrain himself with the Soul of Ice, but unfortunately, not even his disciplined mind could necessitate the focus for the self-control technique._

_End Flashback_

Ranma remembered, with anger, one of his arguments he had with Akane. God, it may have been short, but it was intensely powerful.

_Flashback_

_When he got home, Akane was at the door._

_"Where've you been?"_

_"Ryoga wanted a fight." It was the truth, even if it didn't go through._

_"Liar. You're not even panting! I bet you were with one of you harem girl friends!"_

_"Not now, Akane. I'm tired and I want some sleep." His anger flared for everyone in the house to see._

_"See! I was right! Otherwise you'd want some of Kasumi's food!"_

_Ranma ignored her ranting as he walked up the stairs and entered his room._

_End Flashback_

Of course, with that flashback, Ranma could not help but remember his best friend's advice to him.

Though he didn't know it at the time, Hibiki Ryoga was an invaluable friend to him.

_Flashback_

_Ranma sitting at the river bank, looking into the depths of the water when the eternally lost boy found Ranma._

_"RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!"_

_Ranma didn't even look up. "Hey Ryoga."_

_Ryoga, halfway through his charge, froze. "What, no pig-boy today?"_

_"Nope."_

_Ryoga looked at him strangely. He decided to something nice for once and sat down next t him. Even Ranma had limits._

_"So, what's wrong Ranma? Life slapping you in the face again?" It wasn't like him to act like this, acting down in the dumps._

_Ranma laughed. "Yeah. My life had finally gotten to me. This shit hellhole as been taking me and screwing around with me like no tomorrow. Everyone, except Kasumi, has been treating me like horse shit. And ain't that a coincidence? It's like I'm just a trophy, rather than a person. I can't deal with it anymore."_

_They both looked out to the setting sun. Ranma was appreciating whichever god had allowed him to actually have a normal friend (or at least a friend who would at least listen to him)._

_Ryoga laughed. "Guess you know how I feel. Look at me: poor sense of direction, changes into a little porcine piglet, hopelessly in love, though probably not any more, considering that Akane has been tormenting you. I've doing fine with Akari."_

_"Good to hear, buddy," said Ranma. If he was a friend, he might as well treat him like one._

_Ryoga blinked. "Buddy?"_

_"You're the only person who has actually sat down and talked to me like this before laying the hurt on me. That is a friend to me."_

_"Well, then, how about we actually start over, before that damned bread feud?"_

_"Sure. I need someone to talk to."_

_Ryoga stood up and picked his bag off the ground. "My suggestion to you, Ranma, is to start afresh." He put his bag on his back. "Just a piece of advice to you, Ranma. See you. I have to go back to Akari. I think she's waiting for me to come back. I was here to tie up a few loose ends. Give Akane my best."_

_End Flashback_

'And now, here I am no idea where I am going, except for when my mother gave me this ticket. It was a good thing she let me found a friend which let me stay at their place: I don't like to be a burden to my own mother, no matter how much she would've liked it,' Ranma thought as he stepped off the train, hoping for a quiet, normal life.

He had no idea how wrong he was.

(A/N: None of the sections from here on in will be as long as the previous one, unless I deem it necessary: that last one was about 4500 words long)

**The relocation**

As Ranma stepped off the train, he felt more than happy. He was away from the hellhole he once called home and was now going to a new lace to live. He just had to find it.

He found the first person outside the train station. It was a man with a moustache, black glasses, muscular build, jeans, black jacket, white shirt and he was sitting on a motorbike. Ranma decided to talk to this man.

"Um, hello?"

The man looked at him. It was hard to tell, though. The glasses made it hard to see.

"Could you tell me how to get to this address?"

The man took the piece of paper, looked, then had an expression of surprise.

"Ah! You must be the person Imouto-san was talking about!" he exclaimed.

Ranma could hardly believe his luck.

"I'm Harima Kenji! Imouto-san sent me here to pick you up. Though I was getting bored of waiting for you. Sorry I fell asleep."

"I'm Saotome Ranma! Sorry 'bout this!" He scratched the back of his head in his trademark fashion.

As Harima passed a spare helmet to him, he asked, "So, where you from?'

"Nerima."

Harima looked surprised. "Not surprised you want a new life. I've heard some crazy shit about that place."

Ranma looked at him. "I'm probably the cause of all that."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," he said. He clearly didn't want to talk about it, so Harima didn't (Harima is usually the most blind person to feelings, but since this is a guy-to-guy conversation, I decided to make this easier to read).

Ranma got onto the back of his bike, holding onto his back and Harima roared away, leaving a considerable amount of dust.

As Harima drove past, Ranma made a quick note about where some of the various landmarks to better his knowledge of the area.

As Harima drove into the neighborhood, Ranma looked around, seeing a huge mansion in the distance, a school and a video store.

Finally, Harima arrived at a traditional Japanese house. Ranma looked at it and he didn't know whether to be relieved or angry.

'I hope this doesn't bring back some bad memories,' Ranma thought as he got off the bike and passed the helmet back to Harima. He looked at the house and he found strangely nostalgic. If it weren't for the obvious fact that a dojo was missing, he would swear he was back at the Tendo Dojo.

As Harima parked his bike inside, the door opened and a girl with black hair and red eyes with a very excellent looking figure and dressed in a blue singlet with horizontal lines and a pair of white pants came through the doorway.

'Cute,' Ranma thought. As he did so, he felt something funny near his aura and the next thing he saw was the girl blushing. 'What the heck? Is she a mind reader?'

All these thoughts abated as the girl spoke. "Umm…You must be Saotome Ranma. I'm Tsukamoto Yakumo and-"

She was cut off as Ranma quickly slid into a defensive mode of stance. A moment later, a man with glasses, mushroom cut black hair and a muscular build came through.

"WHERE IS THE PERVERT STAYING WITH YAKUMO-KUN?"

'Not again,' thought Ranma.

"Oi, four-eyes, what the hell are you doing here?" said Harima, annoyed.

"You're staying with Yakumo?"

"No," said Ranma. "I am." And he stepped into view. "I'm Saotome Ranma and what d'ya want?"

"YOU! I WILL PERSONALLY BREAK YOU IF YOU TOUCH YAKUMO-KUN!"

Ranma looked at him, puzzled. "Why the hell would I want to touch her? I just met her. What are you, a freak?"

"I'M HANAI HARUKI AND I CHALLENGE YOU!"

"Fine. I accept your challenge."

Hanai got into a stance and Ranma read him quickly. 'Shaolin Kenpo. Similar to mine.'

"You practice Shaolin Kenpo?"

Hanai nearly fell at that. "You've heard of my dojo?"

"No. I studied it whilst I was in China. And to help you get acquainted with me, I'll introduce myself again. Harima, hold this for me, will you? I'm gonna kick this guy's butt from here to Nerima and back."

Harima held the bag as Ranma formally introduced himself.

"I'M SAOTOME RANMA OF THE SAOTOME MUSABETSU KAKUTOU RYUU SCHOOL! MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS ANYTHING GOES! AND I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!"

Hanai grinned. "You're in for surprise." And with that, he ran towards Ranma.

Just as he was about to grab Ranma, he leapt in and to the air behind Hanai. Ranma then did what he did to Akane when he fought her.

He tapped him on his head and said, "Harima, get Tsukamoto-chan into the house. This isn't going to be pretty."

Harima nodded and he picked her up, bridal style and walked into the house. He then returned outside to witness the match.

Hanai was still in shock. 'What on earth? He's faster than me!'

Ranma was tired of waiting. "Oi, Hanai!"

He returned to the world of the living. "What?"

"EAT THIS! KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"

50 punches flashed out and in less than 2 seconds, Hanai was on the ground.

(A/N: My beta had a complaint with this, and if you are going to complain, refer to the note at the bottom)

"Too easy," Ranma said. Harima stared in shock.

"What the hell? How'd you do that shit?"

Ranma looked at him "Believe me, I don't think learning the technique was worth the trouble. It's called 'Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken' for a reason."

"Wait. 'Roasting Chestnuts on an Open Fire?' How does that work?"

"You gather enough speed to pluck the chestnuts from the fire without getting burnt. Hence, the name."

Harima stared at him. Even he knew when he was out-matched. Heck, the entire school didn't even make up for one-tenth of his power. But, even he had his pride.

Just then, the door opened and Yakumo came out, this time with Tenma, Yakumo's big sister, and her friends, Suou Mikoto and Takano Akira. Suou looked at Hanai and cried.

"What on earth? Who did this?"

Ranma looked guiltily. "Sorry 'bout that. He wanted a fight and I gave him one."

Suou stared at him.

"Well, I'm Saotome Ranma. Tsukamoto-chan, sorry about interrupting you, but he appeared."

Yakumo shook her head. "Iie, don't worry about it."

Everyone took turns to introduce themselves. Tenma had a lot of fun doing so.

"It'll be like having a big brother!"

'Or sister, depending on which form I'm in,' thought Ranma, making a mental note to tell them about the curse. Everyone walked in and there was a small party going on.

"Now, you didn't have to go to this much trouble, you know," said Ranma, looking at all the food. Hanai was dumped unceremoniously into the couch by Harima and they all sat down around the table and they began to eat.

Ranma had a great time. He learnt about Mikoto's martial arts background and he made a mental note to ask about the dojo's location and about Yakumo and Tenma and their background. Hanai soon recovered and, for Yakumo's sake, kept his anger in check and even managed to converse normally with Ranma.

It was getting late and so the group had to break so everyone could go to sleep. The occupants and Ranma saw everyone off. Hanai, still sore from Ranma's attack (he was still partially in shock) was helped by Mikoto. Soon, Mikoto, with Hanai, walked home. Harima, as he had his bike, roared off into the night. Soon, all was quiet around the Tsukamoto household.

**The unveiling**

Ranma was in the kitchen, helping Yakumo clear up the dishes and washing them: he felt obliged to help in the since they had gone to this much trouble for him.

As Ranma washed the dishes, Yakumo felt like she should be helping. Ranma had said he should clean them and said that she should relax, but she felt a need to help him.

"Saotome-san, are you sure-" she started before being cut off.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. You can go sit down," he said. "Relax. You went through all this trouble for me and I need to repay you. I can't believe you're allowing me houseroom here."

She nodded and she busied herself making some iced tea for herself, her sister and her guest.

Ranma quickly finished cleaning the dishes using his 'Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken' attack and he stacked them away after wiping them. Yakumo had also finished making the iced tea for her family and guest, so she brought it out for into the dining room. Ranma insisted he carried the tray and soon, Yakumo and Ranma were sipping some tea, talking.

"Nee-san, there's ice tea down here. And it's about to start!" Yakumo called to her sister. Within less than a heartbeat, Tenma had zoomed down the stairs, turned on the TV and grabbed her drink, ready to watch 'The Three Who Were Slashed.'

Ranma was a little surprised at the speed of the girl. 'Then again, I've seen stranger.'

As the show came on and the action started, Tenma did the usual: yelling, posing, the usual.

Ranma was intrigued, for lack of a better word, at the girl's antics and looked at Yakumo.

"I don't mean to be rude, but does she always do this?" he asked inquisitively.

She nodded, embarrassed at her sister's behavior in front of guests, but Ranma waved it away.

"Don't worry. I've seen more childish people than her." Yakumo nodded as she felt relieved that her sister wasn't putting her guest off.

Just then though, Tenma slipped and fell. And though, this might seem like a common thing for her to do, there were two irregularities. One, she has never done this when impersonating Mangoku. Two, she had her glass of ice tea in her hand. And while this might seem like a normal thing, this posed far more serious consequences than what it seemed

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Ranmaverse workings, these accidents usually ended up with someone being splashed. There are, of course, no exceptions to this rule. And this time certainly was the case.

As the glass flew towards Ranma, he felt a sudden chill down his spine. As he looked forward, he saw the glass flying towards him and he could do no more than widen his eyes as the tea spilt over him, activating his curse.

Of course, this phenomenon was not uncommon in Nerima as Ranma-chan felt the effects of the cold tea spill over her, soaking her to the bone. But then again, it was summer, so it was probably welcome. However, Yakumo and Tenma were clearly not used to seeing such fantastical curses as they were sure the saw a boy morph into a girl.

Yakumo was the first to realize, staring openly at the morphed girl/boy. The shock she received could kill an elephant.

"Uno…"

Ranma-chan looked at her sheepishly. "I didn't think I would have to explain this now. It's a curse I picked up in China when I went there about two years previously. I got it at a place called Jusenkyo. My father took me there."

She nodded, still trying to recover from the shock.

"Umm, I hope you don't mind, but can I have some hot water? It doesn't have to be boiling, just hot," Ranma-chan requested. Yakumo blinked, then she got up and went to the kitchen to get some water.

By this time, Tenma had recovered from her fall and looked at Ranma-chan with curiosity.

"Where's Saotome-kun?" she asked.

"I am Saotome Ranma. It's a curse I got from China. I'll explain," she said as Yakumo returned with a kettle of hot water.

"As I said before, my father dragged me there to a legendary training ground called Jusenkyo."

Yakumo frowned. "Pool of Sorrows?"

Ranma nodded, pulling his shirt on. "Apparently, after a training accident, I and my father fell into one of the many cursed springs around there. As you can tell from the kettle, it is a water-based curse."

"The curse activates with cold water. This could be rain, falling into a river or, as you just saw, tea. The curse is reverted temporarily with hot water. My father was cursed to be a panda. As for myself, I turn into a girl," Ranma-chan said and he poured the kettle on himself.

Both Yakumo and Tenma stared as the original Ranma emerged.

"Saotome-san…" said Yakumo, looking at him with absolute horror.

Ranma sighed and he put the kettle down next to him.

"I fell into the cursed spring called Nyannichuan, the Cursed Spring of Drowned Girl. She drowned there 1800 years ago. As far as I know, there is only one cure."

"What is it, Ranma?" asked Yakumo.

"Water from the Nannichuan, the Cursed Spring of Drowned Man."

"Are there any others?" asked Tenma.

"There's one for ducks, pigs, cats, pandas, you should know, Ashura, the anti-god from Indian legend, Pious Man and the craziest of them all, Ox-Riding-a-Yeti-while-carrying-a-Crane-and-Eel."

The silence permeated the room like a dramatic pause before a scary scene in a movie. The sisters were absorbed in their own thoughts before Ranma said something to them.

"If possible, could you please keep quiet about this? I don't want another uproar," he said, almost desperately. Almost. Ranma still had his pride.

Tenma and Yakumo merely nodded: they could kind of understand why he didn't want something like this getting out. Yakumo understood more because she had a huge secret herself.

Soon though, it was time for bed and as Ranma showered in the bathroom, Yakumo was in her room, wondering what other secrets her guest had.

Little did anyone know though, that the one of the secrets Ranma held would directly affect one of her sister's friends.

Well? You like? Please review for me!

Ranma: Do I really have to do this? This is kinda lame, you know.

Me: OH, FOR GOODNESS SAKES! JUST DO IT! IT'S NOT GONNA KILL YA! OR I'LL SEND YOU BACK TO NERIMA!

Ryoga: Do it, or else you'll face Akane again. And this bucket's gonna hit your face. *Holds bucket threateningly*

Ranma: Ahh! Fine, Fine! *Takes big breath* Next time, on Something Old, Something New…

Ranma the Third Grader?

Ranma the God-Slayer??

Ranma the Friend???

Me: There, that wasn't so hard, was it?

Ranma: Where's my union? And my lawyer?

Me: If you read the contract, you know that you have to do what I say. I HAVE THE POWER! *Lightning Strikes in the Background*

Ranma & Ryoga:…

Me: Ja ne!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Ranma the Third Grader? Ranma the God Slayer?? Ranma the Friend???

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or School Rumble. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Jin Kobayashi.

Important note for TOWORT and Crossover High: Crossover High will now be my no. 1 priority story for now. Something Old, Something New will be put on hold. Though if you're looking for School Rumble, Crossover High incorporates School Rumble with Ranma ½, Inuyasha and Full Metal Panic.

Spoiler Warning in 'Ranma the Friend???'

**

* * *

Ranma the Third Grader**

Ranma woke up from his bed after yet another night of relaxing sleep. He felt pretty relaxed where he was, then realized that he was in another person's house and that he should get up.

When he opened his door, he smelt something very heavenly. Following the scent with his nose, he entered the kitchen and found Yakumo cooking breakfast.

"Ohayo, Tsukamoto," said Ranma.

She turned and found Ranma. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Saotome-san."

"Breakfast smells great! When's it ready?"

"About 5 minutes."

"Is that so? I'll go and get dressed, then." He left the kitchen and left Yakumo to cook breakfast. He then went back to the bathroom to bathe and brush his teeth. Once he had finished up, breakfast was ready and he made his way down, where Tenma was sitting rather tiredly.

"Ohayo, Saotome-kun," she yawned. However, that tiredness evaporated when she saw the food Yakumo had brought in.

Once Yakumo had dished out the food, Tenma cried, "ITADAKIMASU!" and they all started to eat.

After a few minutes, Yakumo started to speak up.

"Umm…Saotome-san?"

"Hai, Tsukamoto?"

"Umm, I think you will need to enroll in a high school."

Ranma nodded. "I think I'll enroll in your school. Just to make things easier for me and you. That way, I'll know some people already."

Tenma nodded, aggravated. "I can introduce to new people at our school, like Ka-re-rin, Asou, Tsumugi…"

As Tenma went off on her long speech about people she could speak to Ranma about, Yakumo talked to Ranma.

"Umm…Ranma-san? Do you have a mobile number? That way I can keep in contact with you."

Ranma shook his head. "I'll have to see about getting one soon. Shouldn't be too hard, though."

They finished breakfast and they soon cleared up and got ready for school. Ranma, not knowing what to wear, just stayed in his Chinese shirt and slacks. Tenma and Yakumo dressed into their uniforms and soon, all three left the house and walked to school together.

"So, Saotome-kun, what do you want to be when you leave school?" asked Tenma. She was in full bubbly mode today.

"Well, I will want to teach martial arts and so I think I'll need a teaching degree for that. I'll also need other qualifications like Business Management (Not sure how it works in Japan: I'm just using the Australian Equivalents) and possibly Accounting. Might do something for fun, not so sure what, though…"

They soon caught up with Tenma's friends, Takano Akira and Suou Mikoto, and after saying hello, Tenma and her group walked ahead of Ranma and Yakumo, leaving the pair by themselves. They could hear Tenma talking about where Sawachika was, but she was out of earshot, so Ranma couldn't hear anything. At once, the thoughts sprang into the air about how the couple looked like.

'Nani? When did Yakumo get a boyfriend like him?'

'Oh, don't they look cute together?'

Yakumo, as it was her custom, ignored these thoughts as Ranma talked to her.

"So, Tsukamoto-chan, what homeroom are you in?"

"1-D. Why?"

"Like you, I'm also a first grader. So, I might be able to get into your homeroom." (In the anime, Ranma's homeroom is depicted as 1-F)

"That would be nice," she said before she could stop the words. Ranma, though, took no notice.

'What was that?' she thought and blushed. She soon recovered as her friend Sara Adiemus walked forward to greet her.

"Ohayo, Yakumo," she said, the British exchange student/ nun-in-training smiling.

"Later, Tsukamoto," said Ranma and he made his way to the front office.

As Yakumo and Sara watched Ranma walking off into the distance, Sara said, "Who is he?"

"He's Saotome Ranma, the son of a friend of my mother's. He's going to enroll in our school while he's staying here."

"Really? I think he's cute," she said. (Ranma's quite hot, to some people. He'll have no problem attracting girls in a schooling environment)

Just then, the bell rang and the girls ran to class, afraid they were going to be late.

"So, Saotome-kun, you're transferring here from Furinkan High?" asked the office clerk.

"Hai," he said respectfully.

"Okay then, everything seems to be in order. Now you'll just have to sit the placement test."

Ranma nodded. The office clerk buzzed for someone to come to the office to help Ranma. After a few minutes of waiting, a women with glasses, purple long hair and with an extremely great figure stepped into the room.

"So, you're the new student?" she asked and Ranma nodded. "I'm Osakabe Itoko-sensei and I will give you the placement test for Yagami High."

She beckoned Ranma to follow and she opened an unused classroom and led him in. She turned on the light and told Ranma to sit at one of the desks and gave him a pen. She then left the classroom.

Ranma was sitting in silence, going over his knowledge when Osakabe-sensei returned with 5 sets of booklets, each with an accompanying answer sheet.

"You'll have 3 hours to complete these, then you can have the rest of the day to explore the campus and familiarize yourself with it."

Ranma nodded and he got to work on the papers. Osakabe-sensei left Ranma to his own devices whilst she returned to the staff room to have some tea and prepared to teach the unruly homeroom they called 2-C.

Once the three hours were up, Ranma handed in the tests back to Osakabe-sensei and she permitted him to leave the room and she told him that if he wanted to find Tsukamoto Yakumo, she would be on the roof.

Once she had disappeared, Ranma opened the window and he dropped to the ground, the leapt back up into the air and onto the roof, surprising all the people who were there.

This included Yakumo, Tenma, Harima, Hanai, Mikoto, Sara and, though she didn't show it, Takano.

"What the…" muttered Harima as Ranma landed on the roof.

"Yo!" he said exuberantly. Unfortunately, the reaction he got was mainly surprise.

"How… can you do that?" asked Hanai.

Ranma shrugged. "I've been doing it for the last two years."

Yakumo was still staring in shock when she remembered. "Ah, Saotome-san! Your obento."

Ranma looked at the lunchbox held in front of her, Hanai, seething at the sight.

'How dare he vilify the purity of Yakumo-kun!' he thought madly. Yakumo ignored this thought.

Ranma said, "Arigato, Tsukamoto-chan!" He took the lunchbox and unwrapped it. Then, using the chopsticks, he began to eat.

"Umm, when did you get to be so good?" asked Mikoto. She was interested in his background in martial arts.

Ranma stood up and he jumped onto the fence in perfect balance, looking out to the city. "When I was two, I started training in the martial arts by my father. He trained me to be a master in the Musabetsu Kakutou Ryu. I did so successfully and, here I am today, one of the world's strongest martial artists."

He wasn't bragging, and everyone knew it. He didn't speak in his bragging voice like he would've done so before and he had the tone of seriousness. Everyone could feel it in his voice.

Hanai grinned. "If so, why don't you prove it at my dojo? Meet there after school and I'll fight you officially."

After receiving instructions to get to the dojo, Ranma agreed to the challenge. After all, he needed a good fight. Then, an announcement rang over the P.A. system for him, so Ranma made his exit.

"Well see ya soon, hopefully," he said, and he dropped backwards, over the fence.

The group starred at the spot where Ranma had disappeared. Then, Mikoto spoke up.

"Hanai?"

"Suou?"

"You do realize you're gonna be in pieces by the end of the day?"

"HA! Bring it!"

Everyone else started praying that Hanai wouldn't get in over his head, sans, Harima.

* * *

Ranma made his entrance through the open window and found Osakabe-sensei waiting there. She didn't expect him to go through the window.

"I won't ask," she said, after seeing Ranma pull himself through the window. He nodded, grateful that he didn't have to explain his martial arts background.

"Now, about your test. I had Kooriyama mark it."

Ranma frowned. "What about it?"

"We both know what's going on. You're smart enough to get into the third grade."

Silence fell at that statement. Ranma, remembering what had happened in Nerima, asked Akane for a better challenge in education. Of course, we all know that Ranma tends to excel at challenges. He either excels and goes overboard to achieve the results, or he doesn't do it at all (the latter, not existing as a choice).

Ranma remembered back to his time at Furinkan and remembered complaining that the work was too easy. He hadn't realized that the extra work given to him was of a higher year level.

"Well, I've made some concessions and we've decided to put you into the second year. Welcome to 2-C, Saotome Ranma."

'Second year? Ah well, shouldn't be too hard if I can complete tests from the…' Ranma actually processed what she had said.

"Why did you give me a test meant for third graders?" asked Ranma to an empty room. A note had been left behind.

"Your homeroom teacher is Tani-sensei. Ask for him at the staff-room," it said. Ranma got the anime vein.

"Why that good for nuthin, old hag, I'm gonna slit her throat the next time I see her…" he mumbled, pocketing the note. He made his way out of the room and locked it behind him.

It was the end of the school day and Ranma made his way out of the yard. He walked for a little while before he came upon a phone shop. Remembering that morning, he went inside to get a phone.

One hour later, Ranma left the store, phone in hand and his head spinning. He hadn't known about the different types of phones and it had taken him some quick lessons on how to actually earn how to use the phone. Thankfully, as with all things, he was a quick learner and once he had learnt everything to know about phones, he'd picked one and after a few minutes, he had a brand new phone, remembering to pick up a waterproof/shock-resistant case for it. He would need it, considering the amount of accidents that he had. So far though, he'd been pretty lucky.

Famous last words.

SPLASH!

A person from a higher building spilt water from his window accidentally after tripping whist holding the bucket. The bucket flew out of the window and Ranma just happened to be beneath it.

'Damn it…' she thought as she shook herself dry. She took out her phone and she found it to be completely dry. 'Looks like I need to go back home, get changed, then get back to the dojo for the challenge.'

She roof hopped over the buildings in order to save time.

**Ranma the God-Slayer??**

Yakumo was in the kitchen when Ranma-chan walked into the kitchen. Yakumo looked around and saw Ranma-chan. Still unaccustomed to her new form, she was a little surprised when the he turned she walked in and asked for a kettle of hot water.

"Ah, gomen nasai, Saotome-san," she said when she figured out who it was. She put a kettle on the stove and the pair waited for the water to boil.

"Ah, Tsukamoto, I've got a phone now, here's my number, in case you need me," Ranma-chan said, giving her a piece of paper. She took it and the water whistled. Yakumo took the kettle and gave it to Ranma-chan, who took it and poured on herself. She changed back and handed the kettle back to Yakumo.

"Arigato, Tsukamoto. I'm gonna head over to the dojo and hold him to that challenge," said Ranma and he walked out of the kitchen.

"Gambatte ne, Saotome-san!" she called.

"Arigato, Tsukamoto," he called back and the door opened, then closed.

Ranma made good time back to the dojo and he got there about five minutes before the challenge was supposed to be held.

As he looked at the place, he was impressed by the looks of it.

'Modern dojo. Not bad, but a traditional one would've been a bit more comforting,' he thought as he walked through the doors.

He saw a man who looked like Mikoto's father teaching a junior class, Ranma guessed, looking at their skill level. He walked through and he sat down, observing the class. The sensei was extremely patient as one kid, who looked like he was nine or ten, made the same mistake three times before he actually got it right.

Once the class had finished, Mikoto's father walked over to him.

"So, are you here to sign up for lessons?" he asked friendly.

"Iie, Suou-sensei. I'm here to accept a formal challenge made by Hanai Haruki-san, one of your students."

He looked surprised. "Expect your own defeat by the end of this match," he said.

Ranma said simply, "Saotome Ranma never loses."

He looked surprise at the name, but he covered quickly. Not fast enough, though, as Ranma still saw it. He paled visibly and shuddered at thought of some of the things he had heard.

'I wonder what rumors I've made around the world,' Ranma thought.

Just then, the challenger walked through the doors, accompanied by Harima, Takano, Mikoto and Tenma.

"Well now, I thought you wouldn't show up," said Hanai, looking at Ranma, who was already on the mat. The spectators sat on the sidelines, along with the sensei.

As Ranma bowed to his partner, then got into his stance, a relaxed one, the sensei said to her daughter, "Pay real attention to this match, Mikoto. This is a true master of the martial arts."

She looked surprised. "What do you mean, father?" she asked.

"Remember those rumors about Mt. Phoenix?"

"You mean the ones about where that phoenix god was defeated?"

"You're seeing the man who did the honors in front you," he said, not looking at her. Her eyes widened.

"But, if they're true, Hanai doesn't stand a chance," she said, panicked,

"Don't worry. He's a good fellow. He won't go all out," he said, looking at the beginning match.

Hanai looked at his opponent, sizing him up. He was outraged to see that Ranma wasn't even taking him seriously.

'Why that… he'll pay for that!'

Ranma anticipated his movements. A right hook as a feint, then grabbing him to throw him over his shoulder, then kicking him to the face. Ranma decided to end it quickly.

As he threw his feint out, Ranma grabbed his arm and threw him into the wall, just hard enough to knock him out. Hanai flew through the air and Ranma was declared the winner via knockout.

Mikoto stared at him. No one she knew had taken Hanai out that easily. Not even her father could: it took about five tries before he even hit Hanai. Tenma, though, was cheering.

"Go, Saotome-kun!" she yelled. Ranma waved at her, smiling, infuriating Harima. Then, a cry rang out.

"WHERE AM I NOW?"

Ranma looked shocked at that. "Be right back," he said, then ran out of the dojo.

Everyone looked confused and moments later, Ranma returned, leading a bandanna-wearing man into the dojo.

"Arigato, Ranma. I'm not in Nerima, am I?"

Ranma shook his head. "I took your advice and left. Went to my mum's house before coming here. You're in Yagami, about the next prefecture over."

Ryoga blinked, then he put his pack down. "Sorry about this. I didn't expect to go come here like this," he said, scratching his head.

Ranma introduced him. "Everyone, this is Hibiki Ryoga, my sparring partner and long time friend. Ryoga, from the left, this is Suou-sensei, Suou Mikoto, Tsukamoto Tenma, Takano Akira and Harima Kenji. The guy on the floor is Hanai Haruki."

Ryoga looked him, then at Ranma.

"You did this, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yeah. Well, come on, let's fight. I need a good fight to keep up with my skills and stay on top."

They walked onto the mats and bowed.

Suou-sensei looked at this, surprised. "Mikoto, take particular note of this fight. This is one is one of the most spectacular fights that you will see in your whole life. Use this experience and learn."

Ranma and Ryoga looked at each other. Then, as if following some unknown cue, they rushed towards each other.

Ryoga punched out first. Ranma, though, just dodged, pulled out his phone, then speed-dialed Yakumo.

Ryoga just ignored this, as Ranma usually did something ridiculous like this every time they fought. He threw blow after blow at Ranma, but Ranma just jumped around, not even looking at Ryoga and waited for Yakumo to pick up.

"Moshi moshi? Tsukamoto-chan? Hai, it's Ranma. Listen, me 'n' your sister might be a little late, so save us some dinner, will you? Arigato, Tsukamoto-chan. Ja." He hung up and pocketed his phone.

The spectators, with the exception of one, were further gob smacked at the display of skill and the lack of paying attention to his sparring partner shown by Ranma.

'Huh,' thought Suou-sensei. 'As I expected from this man, he is a master of martial arts. The boy, too is nearly equally as powerful.'

Ranma punched at Ryoga, aiming at his head. Ryoga blocked, ducked and kicked at Ranma's stomach. Ranma jumped behind him, going for a punch in his back. Ryoga kicked, spinning on the spot and he forced Ranma to block. Ryoga lowered his leg and punched Ranma in the gut, connecting. But he realized it was part of Ranma's plan as he was nailed with 500 punches via Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. Ryoga stepped back once and he conceded, being only a friendly match.

Ranma looked up. "Ryoga, I think when we are fighting here, we'll need some restrictions in future. First, no ki attacks."

Mikoto, the shocks wearing off, wasn't surprised to hear that the pair was ki adept. It just showed how out matched she was in the world of martial arts.

"Second, for you, no BAKUSAI TENKETSU. I don't want to be paying for any repair bills. This isn't the Tendo Dojo."

Ryoga nodded. He'd used the attack one to many times and had probably caused more damage by himself than the rest of the NWC.

"Umm…"

Ranma looked at the girl who had spoken up. It was Mikoto.

"Umm… what is the 'Bakusai Tenketsu'?"

Ranma and Ryoga looked at each other. "That'll be hard to explain. Do you have a huge boulder or log somewhere that you don't need?" asked Ryoga.

Ranma remedied that. "I saw one before. I'll be right back."

Ranma left the dojo as Suou-san looked at Ryoga.

"Do you know what happened at Mt. Phoenix?" he asked Ryoga. He needed to find out the extent of the rumors.

"Yes, I do. I was actually there," Ryoga said, but before he could say anything, a cry came out.

"Hey, Ryoga, out here!"

The group heard the cry and the left the dojo, wondering why he got back so fast. They saw a medium sized boulder outside, Ranma standing on top of it.

"Do your thing, Ryoga," he said and he leapt of the boulder.

"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"

Ryoga ran at the boulder with a finger pointed out. To the spectators, it seemed Ryoga was going toe to toe with a boulder. The situation was almost comical.

Until Ryoga ran the boulder through with just his finger, hitting an apparently random spot, shattering the rock in the process.

No one was really surprised at what they could do anymore: they may as well have said the pair were super humans.

Suou smiled. "Nothing less than what I'd expect from Ranma the God-Slayer and his friends.

"GOD-SLAYER?"

The group rang out. Even Hanai woke up in time to hear this and he ran out of the dojo.

"GOD-SLAYER?"

Ranma grimaced. "I was hoping that wouldn't come out. Or that the rumors had actually spread that far."

"GOD-SLAYER?" repeated Tenma.

"In good time, people, but now, I want a NORMAL life," said Ranma. The sun was setting and the shattered rock was going to be a nuisance. Ranma decided to get rid of it.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!"

He jumped up and let the ball of energy fly forward and it fell, squashing the rocks and turning them to powder.

"Well, I think we need to go soon. Tsukamoto-chan should have dinner for us," Ranma said. He turned to Ryoga. "Well, buddy? Coming?"

Ryoga nodded. Ranma got his bag, in case Ryoga got lost on the way there and soon, Ranma, Ryoga and Tenma were saying goodbye to the group (Ranma was holding Ryoga's sleeve, just to be on the safe side). Harima got on his bike and roared away into the setting sun. Hanai had his bike and he was pedaling away as soon as possible, seeming more like a runaway train than a cyclist. His parents were really strict on curfews.

**Ranma the Friend???**

It was now dark at Yagami and Ranma, Ryoga and Tenma were walking side by side, talking about the day's events. They soon reached the house and, after an introduction, Ryoga was staying at the Tsukamoto's for the night.

Ryoga and Ranma helped set up the table for eating whilst Yakumo was in the kitchen cooking the food. Ranma's mouth was still drooling for the taste of her food: she was nearly as good as Kasumi, if not that, her equal.

As Yakumo brought out the food and put it on the table, Tenma leaped down the stairs for some more food.

"ITADAKIMASU!" she said joyously and started eating her food. Ranma and Ryoga also started eating, but restrained from eating at full speed: they were guests, after all.

"Tsukamoto, this tastes really great!" said Ryoga. Yakumo blushed under the praise, but he took no notice of it.

Ranma decided to make a few cracks. "Better than what Akane was before, Ryoga?" he said, laughing joyously. Ryoga joined in and they made a few cracks about Nerima. However, there were some people they stepped well clear of: Kasumi was an unmentionable and Ukyo, Ranma side stepped and Ryoga respected his wishes.

**SPOILERS FOR RANMA ½! DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT RANMA ½ SPOILED! GO DIRECTLY TO END SPOILER! DO NOT PASS GO AND COLLECT $200!**

"Remember the time I ate those mushrooms of love? God, that was crazy. What was the picker thinking?" Ranma said, laughing and regaling some of his past tales for the Tsukamoto sisters to hear. Some of them were very interesting.

"I know! I still can't believe I ran around after you like a headless chicken! I was such an idiot!" Ryoga said, laughing like a maniac.

"How about Mousse's attempts to get Shampoo, huh? 'Shampoo, my sweet come into these loving- arrgh!'"

Ranma did a passable attempt at the blind boy's behavior by running into a wall, while Ryoga and Tenma cracked up laughing. Even Yakumo had to smile.

Ranma recovered and did another imitation. "Saotome Ranma! I, Kuno Tatewaki, will take your life and free the tigress Tendo Akane and Pigtailed Girl!" Ryoga cracked up laughing even more at Ranma's poor attempts at copying the 'Great Blunder' of Furinkan High. Tenma, though, was confused.

"Pigtailed Girl?" she asked curiously. Ranma answered by pointing to himself and after a few moments of thinking with no result, Ranma got some water and gestured towards it. This made Tenma crack up as well.

Ryoga tried one. "Stupid duck boy! You too silly to love Shampoo. Airen, come here!" Ranma cracked up even further at Ryoga's pathetic attempts at imitating Shampoo.

**END SPOILER**

* * *

As the blond girl drove past a certain residence in her limo, she could hear laughter coming from the house, coupled with Tenma's.

'Hmm, I forgot! I should get the work I missed out on from Tenma. I also never heard her say anything about having guests.'

"Nakamura, please pull over. I need to get some work from Tenma," said the blond.

"As you wish, Ojou-sama."

Her butler pulled the car over and soon, she got out and walked up to the porch to knock on the door.

Little did she know that her life would never be the same again.

* * *

Ranma heard the knock on the door and, after seeing Ryoga crack another joke about Sanzenin, left the room to open the door, as Yakumo was preoccupied with cleaning the dishes.

He opened the door and found a blond girl with an excellent figure, dressed in formal wear. The two pigtails stood out as Ranma looked into the face of the person who had knocked. His eyes widened.

Sawachika Eri was sure she had died and gone to heaven or hell when the door opened and she found the one man she was least likely to see for the rest of her life.

"Saotome…Ranma…"

The temperature in the room seemed to have dropped at least a good 10 degrees. Ranma was trying to keep his feelings, what ever they were, under control as he spoke in response to the girl in front of him.

"Sawachika Eri. Good to see you again."

Tenma heard her friend's name from the living room and ran out to see her. Ranma, using the given moment, stepped aside for Tenma to hug her friend as he walked back into the living room. Ryoga was still smiling at the cracks they had done before, but this evaporated when he saw Ranma's face.

"Ranma? What happened?"

Ranma looked him in the eye and said one thing.

"An old friend has returned."

At the time Ranma said this, Yakumo walked into the room with a tray of tea. She figured she heard someone at the door and prepared an extra glass. As Tenma dragged her friend into the room, Eri's eyes locked instantly with Ranma's. Though it was brief, the contact made was extremely strong. As to which way the emotion swayed, neither was sure.

No one except Yakumo saw the exchange to which some rather interesting thoughts sprang up.

'What the hell? I thought she lived in England!'

'God, what a mess I've gotten myself into!'

'How am I gonna get out of this without an uproar?'

'What am I gonna do?'

"HOW DO WE GET OUT OF THIS?" yelled Ranma and Eri at the same time. Both looked properly abashed as everyone jumped.

One second later, Nakamura the butler crashed through the wall.

"Where are they, Ojou-sama?" he said, wielding a gun. Said gun was dropped when he saw Ranma.

"Saotome-sama, I did not see you there. Forgive me," he said, bowing to him.

Ranma looked utterly petrified at the butler in front of him. Eri also paled as the other three was confused.

"Ranma? What the hell is going on?"

Ranma looked at Ryoga and said, "Guessing from my father's past behavior, you can probably guess what he did."

Ryoga thought for a moment before saying, "He en-" Ranma covered his mouth before IT got out.

"Ryoga, I would appreciate it if you didn't say that. Sawachika's parents probably equal my father in terms of proposed marriages."

Ryoga's eyes widened. "That bad, huh?" he said after removing Ranma's hand from his mouth. Ranma nodded.

"Ano…"

Ranma looked at Yakumo and said, "Hai, Tsukamoto-chan?"

"Ano…I don't mean to be rude…but what is going on here?"

Ranma sighed. "Something I should've taken care of a long time ago." He strode up to the blond haired girl. "We need to talk."

She nodded and she walked out of the house and stood next to the limo. Ranma joined her and they closed the door, allowing them some privacy.

"What's going on?" asked Tenma.

Ryoga decided to speak. "If my suspicions are correct, your friend has a fiancé."

* * *

Well, what do you think? Good or bad? Review.

I'm switching priorities and making Crossover High my no.1 story now. So officially, this is on hold.

HitokiriHERO


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Night to Remember, A New Day to Enjoy, A Visit to Think About

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or School Rumble

* * *

This chapter was to help me get over my writer's block for Crossover High, so don't expect to see anymore anytime soon. SORRY!

This story takes place begins just before the end of the first season. Harima hasn't appointed Yakumo as his assistant yet, but it will happen in this chapter. However, the story will then skip a large chunk and dive straight into the second season.

"Words" 'Thoughts': Japanese

"_Words" 'Thoughts'_: English

Enjoy!

* * *

**A Night to Remember**

"_What's going on?" asked Tenma._

_Ryoga decided to speak. "If my suspicions are correct, your friend has a fiancé."_

* * *

A silence ran through the group standing there.

"A…fiancé?" Tenma repeated. Ryoga nodded.

"They're most likely discussing what is they're about to do in this situation," he said.

"What the heck are you doing here?" asked Sawachika.

"It's not my fault!" said Ranma. "My old life got too much to handle and so I left. After talking to my mom, she suggested that I come here and now I'm living at the Tsukamoto's place."

"Oi, this is gonna be a pain in the butt," said the girl.

They sat there for a while before Ranma said, "Listen, do you wanna hide this? it's not like we're obliged to marry."

Sawachika glared at the boy. "That may be the case IF you didn't steal the ROYAL FAMILY!"

Ranma glared back at her. "HOW MANY-" Ranma stopped and he switched to English before speaking again. _"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU? THAT WAS MY DAMN, LAZY, GREEDY POPS! I HAD NUTHIN TO DO WITH THAT HEIST!"_

She switched to English as well. _"WELL UNFORTUNATELY, AS MY HEAD OF FAMILY, THE QUEEN, PUT IT, IN ORDER FOR YOUR FAMILY TO CLEANSE THEIR HONOR IN THEIR EYES, YOU HAVE TO MARRY ME!"_

As the fight in the car escalated, Ryoga and the others outside the car heard only English words being thrown around. Ryoga winced as a particularly nasty insult made its way out of the girl's mouth and into Ranma's ears. He thought it would be prudent to stop the argument before someone got hurt.

He opened the door and found a very interesting sight. Ranma and the Sawachika girl were literally in each other's faces from all the yelling. Only when Ryoga had opened the door were the pair actually aware of their proximity and they blushed accordingly.

'This is priceless!' Ryoga thought, smirking inwardly. "You finished yet?" he asked neutrally. The both nodded and stepped out of the car, still blushing, though it wasn't as heavy as it usually was.

Yakumo looked at her resident aqua transsexual and thought, 'What is going on here?'

* * *

On the other side of town, when everyone else had fallen asleep, Harima Kenji had his own troubles to contend with. Such as facing his impending manga competition. He needed to finish the work before the deadline. Otherwise, he could miss out on his chance to become a manga-ka.

'Ah, I can't think! I need to go out for a while!' he thought. "Oi, Itoko, I'm going now!" he called.

"Itoko-san," she said. "Otherwise, I'm locking you out for the rest of the day."

"Gomen, gomen, Itoko-san," he said, bowing towards her. 'Damn crazy bitch!'

"What was that?" she asked.

"N-nothing," he said, before leaving the apartment.

As he walked down the stairs and opened the door leading to his bike, the sun rose to a new day and Harima strapped his helmet to his head. He started the bike and he roared into the sunrise, hoping for that spark of inspiration in his head. His editor's words still echoed in his head.

'Well, you should get a friend to read this, see what they think,' were the words.

'Man, what the hell do I do? A delinquent like me, FRIENDS? How the hell am I gonna find someone to read this for me?' he thought, trying to find a solution to his problem, before abandoning it in his mind. 'I can't do this! I need to get to school anyway. TENMA-CHAN, I'M COMING!' With that, he sped up and roared down the mountain path to the school and his 'love.'

**

* * *

A new day to enjoy**

"AH-CHOO!"

"Bless you, Nee-san," said Yakumo.

"Arigato," she said, blowing her nose, yet feeling like someone was talking about her.

Morning rose in the Tsukamoto household, yet nothing was commonplace about it, sans the houseguest. Ranma sat at the table with the sisters and, after some persuasion on his behalf to the principal, donned his Chinese slacks and red shirt. It was a lot more comfortable and the staff had been instructed to have some hot water at the ready at all times. Ranma still didn't believe that the principal had done all this for him, unlike some other principal he could mention. *COUGH KUNO COUGH*

Yakumo had three bento sets out on the table, ready to be consumed at lunchtime when the bell went. Ranma had asked her to accompany him around the school and she accepted, despite hearing that Ranma was to be in 2-C and that her sister was the more suitable choice. When she enquired about it, Ranma replied, "Your sister may be occupied with something else then."

She nodded, but gave no indication as to how he knew that.

Ranma, Tenma and Yakumo walked together to school, one exuberantly happy, one lost, deep in thought and the last, just walking, keeping an eye out for any trouble.

As soon as Tenma's group of friends came into view, she ran up to greet them. After the customary and new introductions (Eri glared at Ranma, Ranma glared back), she walked off with her friends, saying something about prepping for the school's Athletics Carnival.

This done, Ranma and Yakumo continued their trek to school together.

* * *

Lunchtime came for the homeroom of 2-C and everyone was clamouring around Ranma, having their own questions to ask.

"Where did you come from?"

"Will you join our club?"

"Will you go out with me?"

The questions kept flowing. Ranma, though, not being too good in social situations, took the easiest way out.

Through the window.

Whilst most may have thought he was committing suicide, only a select few knew that he could actually make the jump without being smashed into a million pieces.

So, as he escaped the class, their gobsmacked expressions travelled through the walls and into Yakumo's class, who remembered that she had to show Ranma around.

* * *

When she did reach the roof, she found him and Harima up there with her sister. Ranma had, apparently, interrupted something.

"Eh? Ranma-kun, what are you doing here?" asked Tenma.

"Er...well, the people in our class were a little, to say the least, overbearing, so I err..."

"Ah well. Ah, Yakumo! Harima said he was going to confess his love! Let's all give him our support!"

However, Harima was merely ghostly when Ranma looked at him.

'Okay, I may not be an expert in these things, but even I know a crush when I see one,' thought Ranma.

"Eri-chan will be so happy!"

Depression spiralled from Harima and Ranma couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor guy. 'No wonder. Who the heck would even love that girl?'

"Ano, Ranma-san," started Yakumo.

"Ah, Tsukamoto-chan, gomen, I forgot. Thanks for reminding me," Ranma said, scratching his head.

"It's fine..."

Ranma walked off with the younger girl, leaving the poor man and the clueless girl behind.

* * *

When lunch was about to end, Ranma had a great idea of what the campus looked like. He thanked the girl and decided to escort her back to class before the bell went.

"Tsukamoto-chan, where's your homeroom?"

"Uh...1-D."

"Alright, then."

As they made their way up to her classroom, they made small talk. One topic caught his interest in particular.

"An inter-school athletics competition?"

"Hai. They haven't selected the school yet, but they said their bound to have one come up."

When they did reach their homeroom, the usual sprang out.

'Who the hell is he? Get away from her, bastard!'

'Kawaii! An upperclassman!'

'Kisama...' (Something along the lines of 'You bastard' or 'Why you')

However, Ranma noticed a slight disturbance in his ki's atmosphere and he used his enhanced senses to sense the disturbance. However, no sooner had he prepared his senses then the disturbance disappeared.

'I really need to find out what that is...'

* * *

After school, Yakumo went to her part time job, working at the café. She was surprised to find that someone had left a brown envelope on the table with their tea out.

"Umm, his name is…" she said to herself before the envelope was snatched out of her hands by Harima.

He was huffing as he realized how close he was to having his secret revealed.

"Er…" she started.

"Did you see it?" he asked.

"Harima-san? Good after…"

However, she was cut off as he put his hands on her shoulder. "Who would've expected Imouto-san to be working here? Please! Don't tell anyone about this."

"Eh? O-Okay…"

"Well, then see you later." However, his mind struck an idea and he closed the door, turning back to face her.

"Uh…umm…"

"So…what do you think?"

"Huh?"

"You know, my manga…"

* * *

Ranma was walking to an empty park where he could get some peace and quiet. However, he was so agitated that he started using the Soul of Ice to calm his soul. However, he was so absorbed in the Soul of Ice that he didn't notice the rain clouds open up their praises to the land. The result was that Ranma was surrounded by a dome of ice.

When Ranma opened his eyes, he was surprised to see he was encased in ice. 'Weird. It must've rain-'

He looked around him. 'This might actually work...' He started flaring his soul and increased it to burning temperatures.

*SPLASH*

"Well that worked brilliantly," said Ranma-chan. "Now, let's try again, this time, with a bucket of water..."

* * *

Later that day, she made her way back home, the autograph of Mangoku in her arms. As she walked back home, she saw Ranma coming from the other way, panting and sweating, but pleased.

"Ranma-san!"

Ranma looked up and found Yakumo looking at him.

"Tsukamoto-chan!"

As they reached the door, she noticed how dirty he looked. He noticed her and said, "Don't worry about it. I was doing some training. I found something out which might lead to a new technique."

However, the conversation was cut short as she opened the door and found her sister at the door, crying.

"Yakumo, where were you? I'm hungry!" she sobbed. However, her expression cleared up as her sister gave her Mangoku's autograph.

"AHHH! Where did you get this?" she asked, excited.

"It's a secret."

However, she had realized that she didn't have anything suitable to cook dinner with, so she asked Ranma to go out and buy some groceries.

"Not a problem," he replied, walking out of the house.

* * *

Oh how wrong he was.

Ranma arrived at the local market with the money Yakumo had given him. 'Yosh, first thing is...beef.' Ranma strolled up to the butcher's store, only to be splashed by a bike driving through a puddle behind him. Ranma sighed and opened the door. Several minutes later, once again male, Ranma exited the butcher's shop with his burden of dead cow. His next destination, the bakery, turned out to be even more troublesome. The aforementioned biker hit a pothole, causing him to flip off his bike and his bike to sail into the middle of the road. A car driving down the road swerved to avoid the bike and ran into the fire hydrant near the front of the bakery. This caused a fountain of water to gush up right in front of the entrance to the bakery, making it impossible to get in without getting wet.

'This would only happen to me,' Ranma lamented. He sighed and strode forward, promptly changing sexes, and opened the door. Several minutes, and a few airtight bags, later, Ranma strode back out of the bakery, once again male and observed that the hydrant was no longer gushing water. (Anyone know who turns those things off?) Ranma, for his part, tried to continue through his day, but it was like a Kami had it out for him. Every time he was about to arrive at his destination, and sometimes between destinations, he would get splashed, have a sprinkler turn on, someone would spill their drink, or his personal 'favourite', have a bucket of water dumped on him from a window above.

At this point, saying that Ranma was rather upset would be like saying that the sun was rather warm. However, that was soon forgotten as Ranma was just working on his last few ingredients at the farmer's market when he heard a cry of "Ranma-kun!"

**

* * *

A visit to think about**

Ranma turned around and saw the ever graceful figure of Kasumi running towards him.

"I finally found you! I didn't know where you were," she said, walking up to him.

"Gomen, Kasumi-chan! But, I didn't think you'd be visiting me so soon," he said, paying the shopkeeper for the vegetables he had picked up.

"I wanted to see how you were fitting in," she replied, standing next to him.

"Sure, but how did you get out of the Dojo?" he asked.

"I might have sneaked in some knockout pills into the food," she said sheepishly. Ranma openly gaped at her.

'Anything so I can see Ranma-kun again,' she thought. "Ranma-kun, there's a fly next your mouth," she said, smiling. Ranma closed said part of anatomy.

"Well, I think you should come with me," said Ranma, picking up all the shopping without a visible sign of strain. "I'm sure the Tsukamoto sisters will allow another guest of mine."

"Arigato, Ranma-kun," she said.

They walked off; making their way towards the house Ranma had been staying at since he got to Yagami.

"So, how has Nerima been?"

"Well, you can imagine what it's like, not having you there. Akane's muttering some rather unwomanly things under her breath about you and using the mallet constantly against the group of boys at school. Nabiki's been trying to find you, but she hasn't had much luck as of yet. Shampoo has been trying to get into the Dojo to see if you've been hidden somewhere. Mousse just follows Shampoo around. Kuno and his sister have been trying to find you and your curse by running around town. Ryoga hasn't shown up in a while and so I'm sure he doesn't know about you disappearing yet," said Kasumi, thinking thoughtfully.

Ranma nodded at all that before turning into the Tsukamoto residence. He knocked on the door, saying, "Tadaima!"

"Okaeri," said Yakumo, walking to the door.

"Tsukamoto-chan, this is Tendo Kasumi, another person I've told you about," he said, walking past her to put the bags into the kitchen.

"Welcome, Tendo-san," said Yakumo, bowing.

"Why, hello there," she said, bowing in turn. "I hope you can forgive for intruding upon you like this, but I wanted to talk to Ranma-kun here about things that'd rather not be said in public."

"It's alright," Yakumo replied. "Please, sit down and make yourself at home."

"Arigato gozaimasu," said Kasumi, slipping her sandals off and walking into the lounge room. She found Ranma sitting at the table already, waiting for her.

"Well, Ranma, to continue, our fathers have been, to say the least, displeased that you have run away. They and Cologne have joined up to find you, in hopes that you will fulfill whatever duty that you've been assigned," said Kasumi.

"They better hope they don't find me," said Ranma, using his Soul of Ice to restrain his anger.

"On the up side, Ukyo seems to be the most restrained. She said something about receiving a letter from her father, but that's for her to say," continued Kasumi. "At any rate, she won't be looking for you for a while, I'm sure."

'That's strange. I thought Ucchan would be one of the people who'd be chasing me,' thought Ranma. 'This doesn't sound good, but that'll have to come later.'

Yakumo at this time, walked into the room with a pot of tea and two cups, one for Ranma and one for Kasumi.

"Arigato, Tsukamoto-chan," said Ranma, watching Yakumo set the tray down on the table.

"I hope you don't mind rice tea," she said, pouring it out.

"Not at all, Tsukamoto-san," said Kasumi, smiling vibrantly. "I rather do enjoy it when it's peaceful."

'How many times does that happen in the Dojo?' thought Ranma. However, the smells of dinner wafted into the room.

"Oh, are you making dinner?" asked Kasumi. "Then allow me to help."

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to, really," said Yakumo, standing back up.

"Nonsense, I'm a guest here, it's the least I can do," said Kasumi, donning an apron.

* * *

When everyone was well fed and watered, Tenma, Yakumo, Kasumi and Ranma sat at the table, waiting for the impending talk.

"Well, what brings you here, Kasumi?" asked Ranma casually.

"Well, everyone seems to be on the lookout for you, Ranma. Not only have Father and Mr. Saotome have Nabiki looking out for you, but Ukyo and Shampoo have been looking for you. They really want you back."

"Don't worry about it, Kasumi. They'll calm down soon enough."

"But, Ranma, if they ever come after you, they'll-"

"I know, Kasumi. I'm not going down that easily."

"But-"

"Please stop worrying about me. I can take care of myself if any of them come here. Saotome Ranma never loses."

Kasumi had to laugh at that. She had missed hearing his famous catchphrase.

On the other side of the table, Yakumo was feeling a twinge something she had never felt in her life.

Jealousy.

She knew she had feelings for Ranma, but she wasn't ready to admit it to herself. However, she couldn't help but feel some form of envy at how Kasumi got along so well with Ranma, when she herself barely knew him.

Tenma, meanwhile, was oblivious to everything: she sat there and played gracious host.

"Since it's so late, why don't you stay the night? It'll be fun!" she said exuberantly.

"Why, thank you, Tsukamoto-san. Yorushiku onegaishimasu."

* * *

Thoughts and comments are all welcome.


End file.
